Portable pipe lathes are adapted to be mounted on or adjacent to a pipe to be machined, rather than requiring the pipe to be transported to a stationary tool. In pipeline applications, the machining of a pipe end must sometimes be accomplished in the field while the pipe remains partially connected into the pipeline, to prepare a pipe end during a repair or after the pipe is newly ended.
Portable pipe lathes are available, but are often intended for steel pipe. The machining of composite (i.e. plastic) pipes presents unique challenges due to relative flexibility of a composite pipe compared to stiffer metal pipe and the tendency for the composite pipe to be out of round.